Aphibarnrat takes Shenzhen lead

18 April 2015 07:02

Thailand's Kiradech Aphibarnrat fired six birdies in the space of nine holes to surge into the lead of the Shenzhen International in China on Saturday.

Aphibarnrat began the third round one shot behind American Peter Uihlein but birdied his first three holes before carding what would prove to be his only par on the front nine on the fourth.

The 25-year-old, whose sole European Tour win to date came in the Malaysian Open in 2013, then bogeyed the fifth but bounced back with another birdie on the sixth, and repeated the trick after a bogey on the seventh.

A two-putt birdie on the ninth saw Aphibarnrat reach the turn in 32 and at 12 under par he enjoyed a two-shot lead over Uihlein and Spain's Pablo Larrazabal, who was compiling the round of the week.

Larrazabal had raced to the turn in 31 and picked up further shots on the 11th, 15th and 16th, while Uihlein had carded two birdies and one bogey on the front nine.

Chinese number one Hao-tong Li had earlier carded a flawless 65 to set the clubhouse target on seven under, a total matched by England's Tom Lewis and former US PGA champion YE Yang, who both shot 66.

Double Masters champion Bubba Watson struggled to his second consecutive round of 74 to finish two over par.

Source: PA